GLADA helps Tioga Horsemen; Johnson wins at 35-1

Northfield,Ohio – November 27, 2023 – Tioga horsemen and Dontyousayit were the big harness racing winners at Northfield Park on Sunday night as the Great Lakes Amateur Driving Association (GLADA) made a $2,000 donation to the Tioga horsemen and driver Christina Johnson put some icing on the cake driving the upset winner in the opener.

With windy raindrops mixing with snowflakes in the Cleveland area on a chilly Sunday night, Christina Johnson sprung that 35 to 1 upset with the six-year-old gelding Dontyousayit (Dontyouforgetit), tipping wide in the lane as the visibility on track was next to zero.

With the favorite unable to handle the sloppy track condition, there was a scramble going on early as several horses were bothered around the opening turn looking to avoid any additional mishaps.

Fortunately, there were none with Johnson dropping to the back of the pack with Dontyousayit and letting the others do the heavy early workload.

At the opening marker in :29, Golden Genes, handled by Larry Ferrari, enjoyed the top spot but, soon after, Another Breath, with Floyd Rhodes in his sulky, was coming to call with these two racing as a team through subsequent panels of :59.3 and 1:29.2 with Brigotto and Henry Beachy second over and Dontyousayit on a double bubble binge having reached fourth.

Once they straightened away in the lane, Dontyousayit moved even wider to avoid any visibility problems and mowed them all down in the final yards for the win—the margin being a length.

Another Breath went a brave mile after being bothered a bit early and finished second with Mr Houdini, with Don Sherman in the sulky, next. Golden Genes, battling for the top spot the entire way, finished fourth in a mile clocked in 2:00.2. Magic MVP picked up the nickel for Lauren Harmon.

DONTYOUSAYIT REPLAY

In a post-race interview, driver Christina Johnson said, “It was pretty tough out there tonight with the wind and snow and rain all mixed in and you really couldn’t see that well with all the mud clogging our goggles, but we got the job done and we were able to help the Tioga horseman a little, as well…so it was all good.

Trained by Larry Foos for owner Susan Foos, Dontyousaayit won for the third time this year in 32 starts, sending his 2023 bankroll to $35,538 and $177,034 lifetime. He paid $72.60 to win.

For Christine Johnson, it was her 31st lifetime success in only 186 starts. She has been 1-2-3 in over 50% of her trips behind the starting gate.

Ms. Johnson was back in the winner’s circle along with Lauren Harmon, Larry Ferrari and Steve Oldford for the check presentation to the Tioga horsemen affected by the recent tragic fire with Oldford lamenting, “This is why we race. All GLADA members donate 100% of their driving earnings in our events for charitable distribution, whether it be for helping secure safe retirement homes for our horses, re-training horses for rehabilitation purposes for those in need and, of course, situations like the tragedy up at Tioga. This is what GLADA is all about!”

by John Berry, for GLADA